Minnie the Moocher leads overall in BMW Round Ireland Race
by Oceansport 27 Jun 2004 21:31 BST
As the front-runner in the BMW Round Ireland reached the famous Fastnet Rock Lighthouse off the West Cork coastline last evening (Sunday), provisional overall results calculated for the fleet passing the first check-in point at the Tuskar Rock show Anthony Richards' Minnie the Moocher leads the event on corrected handicap time.
David Nixon's O2 Team Spirit holds a commanding lead on the water and is reported to be on record-breaking pace thanks to fresh winds soon expected to boost their performance further. France's City Jet Solune, chief rival for "line honours" is not suited to headwinds and is estimated to be at
least four hours behind the Irish leader.
"We're doing the job we came here to do," Nixon reported shortly after passing the landmark rock. "Now we're looking forward to getting some straight-line miles under our belt. I'd be fairly be happy that we did well over Solune in the afternoon as 20-knot headwinds wouldn't have suited
them".
However, the race for the overall title is wide open and as usual for this
704-mile classic, overall victory generally favours the smaller entries:
2004 is no exception.
At 37 feet, fleet leader on corrected handicap time Minnie the Moocher is one of the smaller boats competing but the Jason Kerr design is within sight of much larger boats such as second overall Fidessa Fast Wave and Tonnerre de Breskens.
Although this Dutch boat was estimated to be ten miles ahead passing the Old Head of Kinsale, unaware of his overall position, Richards said he was expecting a better sailing angle after the Fastnet and would "reclaim the advantage" in the early hours of Monday.
So far in this race, just four boats have retired led by Irisha who lost steering; Joker with rigging worries along with Lough Swilly two-handed entry Saber with similar concerns. Broadsword retired to Dunmore East soon after starting from the Tuskar Rock to Fastnet stage as crew fatigue took its toll in the tough conditions.